Johnson & Johnson Charged Over Drug Kickbacks

Federal prosecutors filed a complaint today against Johnson & Johnson, charging that it paid “tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks” to a major national pharmacy serving nursing homes. In exchange, the government alleges, that pharmacy, Omnicare Inc., would boost the sales of J&J’s drugs, including the antipsychotic Risperdal.

Omnicare has already ponied up $89 million to settle a complaint against it in the same scheme, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company was in a strong position to push Johnson & Johnson’s products, because its pharmacists reviewed nursing home patients’ medical charts and recommended drugs. Doctors followed their recommendations 80% of the time. (More Johnson & Johnson stories.)